Litigation/Dispute Resolution

The difficulty of people signing up to a collective action and the availability of third-party funding were legitimate factors to take into account in making it opt-out, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

There was no express or implied retainer between a law firm and a businessman with a “colourful commercial career” suing it for £2.5m in damages, the High Court has ruled.

The freedom of parties to choose their lawyers should not “transform into an ability to choose a venue”, a High Court judge has said in moving a judicial review hearing from London to Leeds.

The High Court has accepted an apology from a party which broke an embargo on a ruling, in the third such case in the space of just two months.

A QC has rejected an application recuse himself from sitting as a deputy High Court judge in a case involving a law firm suing for unpaid fees that itself owes him fees.

The burgeoning field of data breach claims has taken a blow with a High Court judge saying the disclosure of a person’s name, gender and date of birth is not serious enough.

The Ministry of Justice and courts service have “missed opportunities to swiftly deliver an ambitious court reform programme”, MPs on the justice select committee said today.

A deputy master could hand down her judgment on a case that had been heard but settled the day before she was due to circulate a draft striking out the claims, the High Court has ruled.

The senior Queen’s Bench master has strongly criticised a Liverpool law firm over its approach to the Volkswagen emissions case and trying to blame other solicitors for its failings.

Listed law firm The Ince Group has been granted an interim injunction to stop hackers from releasing confidential data on the dark web if it does not pay a ransom.

Class action firm Hausfeld has been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for allowing its independence to be compromised in the conduct of a massive group claim.

A businessman whose property company is suing a law firm for damages cannot provide security for costs in the form of an indemnity backed by legal charges and must provide cash.

The High Court has approved class action firm PGMBM terminating a retainer that leaves 183 litigants to continue their battle for compensation alone.

Calls for long- and short-term reform to the group action regime yesterday marked the launch of the Collective Redress Lawyers Association, as a tribunal refused to certify two opt-out actions.

On 18 August 2021, in Pakistan International Airline Corporation v Times Travel (UK) Ltd (Appellant) [2021] UKSC, the Supreme Court unanimously held that economic (or lawful act) duress does exist under English law.